Toyo R888's On The Street

[Hellcat]

My original tires on my 99 ACR are about to dry rot right off the car. I need tires! I've checked around and really only two choices for the street if you're using the stock wheels. I love my BBS wheels so I'd really like to make this work. The Toyo R888's are probably the best choice but I hear bad things about the noise. Does anyone have a review of street driven only? It's just a weekend car and won't see rain unless it's a surprise. The Nittos are the only other rear tire available but it's the Nitto 555 drag radial and I'm not sure I'll be happy in the curves. Thanks in advance!

[Red Snake]

FWIW, The 555 DR on an 18" wheel does not have the notorious sidewall flex and rear end sway that some of he taller DRs have. I have a set on OEM wheels and they corner just fine.

[Vipes]

I ran the R888's on my 06 coupe on the street only and they were amazing. Before that I had pilot super sports and hated those. The R888's would dead hook in 1st gear with 600 rwhp while the SS tires would spin hard in 1st and 2nd. Both were good on cornering. As far as the noise of the R888's, I never noticed since I had a head/cam car with full exhaust/headers. I'm thinking about getting the R888's again for my 2015 when I wear out the pirelli P zeros.

[ViperTony]

I'm installing the R888's on my GenII in a few weeks. I haven't heard any issues with noise or drive ability on than not driving spiritedly in the rain. You should be fine with the R888's. They hook up nicely as well.

[Fatboy 18]

Your worried about the noise? You own a VIPER! They are noisy.

I run Toyo R888s on the street and track. Yes there is a (little) more noise than the Michelin PS2s but the grip in the dry is great. There is a trade off,
Toyo, Great grip (in the dry) but a soft compound so they wear out faster than the PS2s

In the wet and I mean wet! The Michelin is a better tire because it can push rainwater out of the tire tread faster than the Toyo. If you do any hard cornering the Toyo is the tire to get.

In the wet the Toyo is ok but due to the torque of the Viper they can break away very easy. This happened to me on a dual carriageway, I was not going that fast (under 50mph) and had gently squeezed on the gas to suddenly find the car going sideways. I had never experienced this with the Michelins, So respect is needed.

[Hellcat]

Great advise from everyone and I feel good about getting either the Toyo or Nitto's now.

Fatboy 18- good point on the noise! Lol...

[river rat]

If its only a weekend cruiser, then the toyo's will be great. Their grip is exceptional. I've had them for about a year and very happy.

[justme]

I've had the R888's for the last two summers. We rarely take the car out in the rain so I can't comment on that, however the ride and grip is exceptional in dry conditions. They do seem to wear a little faster but most people don't put thousands of miles on a Viper a year. The noise level in the cabin isn't excessive with or without the top. What I liked most was the tread design as opposed to what else is available. I would buy these again.

[SNKEBIT]

Running them now. They make a little noise but have awesome traction.

[Vipes]

http://i65.tinypic.com/332rlti.jpg

http://i67.tinypic.com/288mn40.jpg

http://i67.tinypic.com/16a4nx4.jpg

The tread pattern looks great, very aggressive.

[AaronFL]

I run these on my Lotus. They are a bit noisy, but the grip is great! I drive them in the wet all the time and there are no issues as long as you are smart about it. I just ordered a new set last week. How many miles are you guys getting out of these on the Viper? I got about 15k with the Lotus, but that's a 2000lb car. My viper has 19/20 CCW wheels right now and I am considering stepping down to a 19" rear wheel to run r888s.

[Hellcat]

I just placed the order for the Toyo R888's. Thank you everyone for the feedback!

[Fatboy 18]

Mine are down to the wear markers after 6k if that, but I do wheel spin my car off the start lines......
This included track time at Spa, and Trashing the car round the Top Gear track and Sprinting the car.

Thought that is what Vipers are for? :drive:

The torque of the Viper can break those tires loose easy in the wet!

[MomentaryRacing]

As with any R-compound tires, they will last a lot longer, if you limit their UV exposure, especially on a street driven car. If the car is parked outside during the day, see if you can position it so that the tires are not in direct sunlight (actually, even street tires "wear" from sitting in the sun...)

[v10viperbox]

As with any R-compound tires, they will last a lot longer, if you limit their UV exposure, especially on a street driven car. If the car is parked outside during the day, see if you can position it so that the tires are not in direct sunlight (actually, even street tires "wear" from sitting in the sun...)

MR is right on the money. R888's should heat cycle out and stop gripping long before the tread actually wears down. I have used them on a lot of my street / track cars and they are a phenomenal tire when they are warmed up they can get a little greasy at the absolute limit on a car that weighs more then say 2500lb's but you need to be doing so real dumb crap to get there on the street. If you race on them and street drive them they will absolutely heat cycle and you will get 2-3K miles out of them, on the street only maybe 6K total miles on a gen IV.

[cashcorn]

Vipes, what size did you run on your sidewinders? Front/Rear. I'd to put these on also after my p-zero's go.. thanks

[Vipes]

Vipes, what size did you run on your sidewinders? Front/Rear. I'd to put these on also after my p-zero's go.. thanks

For the fronts I went with the same as stock 295/30/18 but in the rear I had to go with 345/30/19 because they don't make a 355. I'm in the same boat as you with the p-zero's now since I sold the gen 3 for a 5 but I don't know if I can wait until they wear out since I really enjoy hooking up in 1st gear.

[SNK3BIT]

I am very interested in this. I have a Gen 5 that dynoed at 590 wheel HP. Will the Toyo R888s hook from a dead stop? Do you have to heat them up if you are doing a drag race? If so, do they require a large or small burnout?

[Fatboy 18]

I am very interested in this. I have a Gen 5 that dynoed at 590 wheel HP. Will the Toyo R888s hook from a dead stop? Do you have to heat them up if you are doing a drag race? If so, do they require a large or small burnout?

There's a new Toyo tyre out now which is the Toyo R888R A different tread pattern to the original R888 But its not available for 18" wheels

It might be available for the Gen V though? Check with the supplier :)

[Bill Pemberton]

New tire is not available for the Viper at present.

[ViperPete]

Great tires (r888s). I have them on my Viper. Didn't notice a difference in noise.

[ViperRyan]

http://i65.tinypic.com/332rlti.jpg

http://i67.tinypic.com/288mn40.jpg

http://i67.tinypic.com/16a4nx4.jpg

The tread pattern looks great, very aggressive.

I've got the same wheels on my GenII GTS, love them. I'm running the Pirelli Corsa's now. Why do you guys prefer these Toyo's over the Pirelli's?
24880
24881
24882
24884

[Junkie]

I've got the same wheels on my GenII GTS, love them. I'm running the Pirelli Corsa's now. Why do you guys prefer these Toyo's over the Pirelli's?


WAY more traction.

[ViperRyan]

WAY more traction.

Sounds like it, and a much shorter life span?

[Junkie]

Sounds like it, and a much shorter life span?

Yes, but that is always the case with better performance.

More performance = less life. Tires, motor, trans, etc....

[Bill Pemberton]

Not way more traction than the Corsa , maybe a P Zero.

Suggest some folks think about what they want the tire for, and the Corsa and R888 are DOT Competition Tires , so they are track tires that are still legal for the street. If you go to the track once a year or never, most should be looking at Super Sports or P Zeroes , imho, as they are a ton better in the rain, quieter, ride better, and will not track around a rutted road as bad. The Super Sports are decent enough that many folks run them in the One Lap of America.

R888 is a old tire design and is being replaced as it has been around for over a decade and hopefully the new tire will be quieter and have more performance, but if someone is not concerned with tracking the car , I would think the advantages with the maximum performance tires like a Super Sport or P Zero would be fine for the majority. I love stickier tires , but recommending them to many often finds folks unhappy with items no one mentioned to them prior to the purchase.

[Fatboy 18]

In the UK Pirelli tires are ridiculously expensive, the Toyo is far cheaper, I would not touch Pirelli unless they change there prices.

There also seem to be a lot of different specs with that companies brand of tire.Rosso, Corsa, P Zero. it seems very complicated trying to work out what tire is what for the Viper!

[albertz4]

I also run R888 tires. They have an amazing grip on dry roads. As long as you don't do spirited driving during the rain, these Toyo tires (http://4wheelonline.com/Toyo_Tires.202664) are not bad at all.

[Fatboy 18]

Now on my second set of Toyo R888s with my 18"wheels. LOVE THEM.

Some of the posters in this thread are NOT using 18" wheels, there are more tire options out there for larger wheels, but the original question was relating to 18" wheels.